AN: Chapter three is here! Sorry it took so long, for any of you who may follow my other fics, you know what's up, for those who don't? I work in a hospital and haven't had too much time to do as I please lately what with the pandemic.

XXX

Fall

Naruto and Sasuke sat in Professor Port's class, staring at the man as he told his story of battle against a Grimm. They were utterly bored. Their fingers moved the pencils in their hands as if on auto pilot, taking notes they didn't need and didn't care for. The only reason they were bothering was the simple fact that blending in would cause them far less problems in the long run. On the row below them, Naruto absently noted that Yang and Ruby were slacking as covertly as possible. His eyes flicked back up to the professor and found that the man hadn't noticed anything yet.

Naruto couldn't help but wonder how often Port got ignored in his own class if those girls were confident enough to do it without getting caught and presumably pass at the same time. Naruto set his chin in his palm as he continued to write. He slid his eyes towards Sasuke and let them pass his rival to rest on the members of JNPR. They were more focused than RWBY, but not by much. Pyrrha and Ren seemed to be paying attention, though he couldn't be sure how genuine that was. Nora was sleeping without being noticed somehow and Jaune, well… the poor guy was trying.

Naruto looked back to the front of the room as he noticed one of the other students look his way. An attractive girl with amber eyes and dark hair. She was easy on the eyes, but the amount of negative emotions that seemed to just pour out of her like water from a broken pipe was nearly mind boggling. She's something else, thought the whiskered blonde. Though she was nowhere near the man's amount of power, her emotions alone reminded him of Madara in a way.

Humming to himself, Naruto resolved to nip whatever was up with her in the bud.

Maybe you should leave this world's problems to its residents. You don't wanna get attached, kit, Kurama chimed in. But Naruto disagreed. It's not that he planned to get attached or anything really, but he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he just left this be and something terrible happened. He wasn't that type of person and so he told Kurama as such. The fox just harrumphed, but smiled, nonetheless. It wasn't as though he'd expected any less from his Jinchuriki, after all.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class and ending Naruto's conversation with Kurama. He and Sasuke put away their things and stood before meeting up with RWBY. The team of women waited for JNPR to join them before they left the classroom.

"So, what's next?" Naruto asked brightly, his arms folded behind his head as he and Sasuke followed them.

"Lunch!" cheered Nora in response.

"Oh? Nice. I hope they have some good ramen, ttebayo!" Naruto cheered in kind. Sasuke rolled his eyes with a scoff.

"You're such an addict, dobe. Eat something else for once."

"Ramen is the food of the gods Sasuke! Don't disrespect it! Besides, the old man said they'd start making ramen here just for me! And I haven't had any. Ramen. Since. We. Came. Here," Naruto replied. Sasuke shook his head in clear exasperation and the two hunters-in-training teams look amongst one another.

"Is ramen really food that gods eat?" was Ruby's innocent inquiry. Normally they'd all think that was a stupid question, but these two boys had met a goddess and defeated her. Considering that, well, they felt that it might actually be possible. Not to mention, as far as any of them were concerned, these two boys were essentially divinity. They couldn't fathom mortals defeating a goddess, after all.

"It's just an expression," grunted Sasuke.

"Oh…" Ruby said quietly as her face colored. She supposed she really didn't have anything to be embarrassed about, but that didn't stop the blush unfortunately.

"Well, since we're going to eat I guess we better let the bosses know," said Naruto as he pulled two Kunai from his pouch.

"The bosses?" asked Weiss, eyeing the weaponry cautiously.

"We're clones," Naruto responded. And then he stabbed himself and Sasuke. The two went up in smoke and the group of teens stood there in silence as the smoke dissipated.

"I never want to see that again," Blake spoke after a moment, sighing. The rest of her friends wholeheartedly agreed.

~X~

Naruto's eyes opened, his conversation with Kurama coming to an end. The ages old Biju was a wealth of knowledge and now that the young Uzumaki could wield every element known to the elemental nations, that was knowledge he needed. At first he wasn't sure he'd be able to do anything like that, but Kurama made it quite clear that the Rikudo Sennin was the birthing point of modern ninjutsu through Ninshu. Regardless of kekkei genkai, as long as it was an element and not some sort of physical mutation, Naruto should be able to do it.

It was a fascinating and daunting task to the blonde. Learning multiple elements wasn't going to be easy. Even less so when he wanted to study fuijutsu for his own personal reasons. He supposed he never really had too much time before, but while he and Sasuke were researching for a way home alongside Ozpin and their own training to master their new power from old man Rikudo, now seemed to be the best time.

"Why are you still just sitting there? Let's go," grunted Sasuke. Naruto didn't bother retorting and stood up, dusting dirt and grass off himself. The birds that had been on his shoulders flew off into the trees of the emerald forest. It was the only place Ozpin had felt it was safe for them to train. Neither of them had delved into anything dangerous just yet, but they both understood his worries. Ninjutsu was dangerous, after all. Them being here was proof of how volatile and unpredictable it could truly be.

"Did you see the amber eyed woman in class?" asked Naruto while he eyed some of the lurking red eyes he could see in the shadows of the trees. The grimm had been here for some time, but they'd yet to approach them. Neither of the two knew why but they doubted they were afraid. From what they'd been told the grimm were incapable of such emotions.

"Yes. She wouldn't stop looking at us," Sasuke responded.

"She was full of negativity. I'm thinking of asking Oz about it."

"Aside from Ozpin himself, she had the closest energy to chakra I've felt since we arrived. Still doesn't quite compare, but I suppose it is worth asking about." Naruto nodded at Sasuke's reply and the two vanished from the clearing a moment later, their course set.

~X~

Pyrrha set her tray of food down alongside her teammates and her friends from RWBY. Surprisingly—or maybe unsurprisingly depending on how one looked at it— a majority of them were having ramen. They knew it wasn't definitively the food of the gods or anything. They'd be lying if they said they'd given ramen much thought over the years. The only ones who'd even had it before were Yang, Ruby, Ren, and Nora. Weiss would have never considered touching the stuff until now, Blake had never had it due to her time in the white fang and constantly being on the move. Pyrrha had often been told it wasn't something she should be eating due to her training and Jaune had never really bothered.

That changed today. The four of them would be trying the food for the first time while Ren and Yang were essentially eating the dish on a whim. Once they were all settled they began their meal, chatting with one another and appreciating the flavors of the broth and its ingredients.

"Is ramen always this tasty?" Weiss asked, wondering why her father wouldn't want something of such quality. Yang was too busy slurping up a noodle to respond and Ren shook his head.

"No. I'd would have to say this is an exception. I wonder where the recipe came from," he responded, though he did have an idea.

"That would be courtesy of me," Naruto grins as he and Sasuke set their trays onto the table. Blake jumped at their sudden arrival, but said nothing. Sasuke eyed her briefly before looking away as Naruto continued on. "I happen to know a few of my favorite ramen shop's recipes. I figured Teuchi wouldn't mind if I spread the masterpiece that is his ramen with another city he won't be able to visit."

They read between the lines and nodded.

"It is excellent," Weiss responded as Naruto dug in himself. The blonde nodded enthusiastically as he slurped and Weiss's nose crinkled as she watched him, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. She opened her mouth to say something and then shut it with a huff and focused back on her meal.

"So… about those clones… did you have to, you know, stab yourselves for them to go away?" Jaune asked, setting his fork down in his bowl. Ren had told him the meal was meant to be eaten with chopsticks, but he was not good at using them yet so he opted for a more familiar utensil.

"Nope," came Naruto's grinned reply, his eyes alight with mirth. Sasuke sighed as his teammate's prank, but refrained from saying anything further. "They just need a good hit to dispel. But giving you guys a good scare was more fun." Naruto chuckled. For a moment none of them said a thing. And then Yang spoke, a large smile spreading across her face that had Ruby eyeing her warily while Blake sighed.

"I like the way you think, whiskers."

~X~

Cinder Fall was not one to take interest in other people often. Sure, she made sure to know everything about someone when she needed something out of them. But true, genuine, interest? Such instances in her life were rare. And now she couldn't take her eyes off two people at once. It was almost mind boggling. This was the fourth day in a row where she found herself observing the two of them. Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. Two men who seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

Cinder had made sure to have a list of every student currently attending Beacon, as well as those students who were coming to the Vytal Festival from elsewhere. Those two were nowhere to be found. Further investigation yielded no results either. For all of her skill at finding what people don't want found, Cinder knew nothing of theses two.

It was like they didn't exist. She had so many questions. Where were they from? How could they possibly have more than one Semblance? Who did they work for? Surely, they worked for someone. One does not erase their entire existence without some sort of backing. She thought over the possibilities, but settled on Ozpin in the end.

Cinder had overheard them talking with teams RWBY and JNPR on their first day. The conversation had taken far too long to move on from Ramen in her opinion, but once it finally did, she acquired all the information she needed. The two of them had planned to speak to Ozpin. And by the sounds of it, he hadn't called on them. How often did students search out the headmaster himself? No, it was usually Ozpin who called on his students if he needed anything from them.

It had simply been something curious at the time, but they had visited the man everyday since then. Furthering her suspicions, neither of them had fought in the combat classes they've had once. She was almost certain they were fully fledged hunters that Ozpin had employed to keep tabs on anything suspicious around his students. Cinder didn't understand how the man could have known there was something amiss here, though. She and her subordinates had been inconspicuous thus far. Ozpin had no idea she was a maiden and didn't know what she looked like. Unless… she thought.

Cinder's fingers tightened on her fork. No. It couldn't be… did the previous fall maiden wake up long enough to give them information? She wondered. She exhaled through her nose and brought her fork to her mouth, slipping the broccoli on it past her lips as she contemplated her situation. Thinking on it further, it was an unlikely scenario she'd conjured up. If Ozpin truly knew who she was, she doubted he'd have let her into his school at all. No. Ozpin couldn't know who she was. Not yet.

In all likelihood the man was probably taking precautions. As much as she was sure her plans would succeed, she was not naive enough to think Ozpin a fool. With that in mind she continued her meal and made her decision. Cinder had been observing Ozpin's lackeys long enough. It was time to see what they were made of. Surely Goodwitch wouldn't restrict them from fighting if they were challenged. It would be far too suspicious.

Tearing her eyes away from thee two anomalies, Cinder smiled. She would find out exactly what she wanted.

~X~

Sasuke sat beside Naruto as the blond chatted with Yang next to him. Combat class had yet to begin so she was using the time to chat Naruto up. No woman had ever approached Naruto quite like this, at least, as far as Sasuke was aware. Though his expression remained stoic thanks to all his shinobi training, on the inside he was smirking. Sasuke could admit the discomfort on his teammate's face was amusing.

He didn't know why Xiao Long found Naruto so attractive, but it appeared as though she had no trouble expressing herself to him. Sasuke idly wondered if Naruto would be able to rebuff her forever. They both knew that she was only being half serious with her advances thus far. She was keen enough to notice her attentions made Naruto uncomfortable—though, there wasn't anyone who couldn't tell how uncomfortable Naruto was, what with how awkward he acted around her whenever she tried cozying up to him—and seemed to take great pride and joy in messing with him. And Weiss Schnee.

Sasuke wasn't altogether sure why she was bothered. Schnee was harder to read than Xiao Long by far. All he could tell was that Xiao Long's flirting with Naruto irked the woman for some reason, but he didn't think she liked Naruto. Sasuke let the contemplation fade as Glynda walked into the room. Yang stopped hanging off Naruto's arm as Glynda quieted the classroom and began her lecture.

To be frank, Sasuke didn't care about whatever woman troubles Naruto was having. They were just a distraction. Their life here was mundanely routine by their standards and so very boring. Thoughts of their way home did little more than irritate him and letting his mind wander to his problems with Naruto merely made him want to fight.

Sasuke set his chin in his left palm and propped his head up on the table. Glynda waffled on—he assumed; he wasn't actually listening—about nothing of import. It was a few minutes later when he shifted his eyes off to the right, past Naruto, Yang, and her team. Far off in a separate section of seats, that woman was eyeing them again. He wanted to scowl. Four days of this and she clearly wasn't tired yet.

Sasuke couldn't help but wonder what she was planning. He wasn't like Naruto, really. He felt no obligation to help these people, but he was growing tired of this woman. Naruto said she was full of negativity and that was enough to alarm them considering they way this world worked. The two of them met with Ozpin that day after lunch with their acquaintances.

The information they'd received had been enough for Naruto to say he'd help this Amber woman who Fall had stolen maiden powers from. Sasuke wouldn't have cared if Naruto hadn't roped him into it too. It had ticked him off at first, but he conceded if only because it meant he could test the strength of these people. His first impression of them was unimpressive, but it wasn't as if he had actually seen them fight. Sasuke supposed he could reserve his judgement until he got a chance to do battle with one of the Remnant natives. And if he was lucky enough to fight Fall? All the better.

Ozpin had said that as long as it was Fall and her posse, he and Naruto could fight. With that thought in mind, Sasuke met Fall's eyes. She blinked, but her expression betrayed nothing more for a moment. She smiled pleasantly, almost seductively. He assumed she thought she was being subtle or something, but his eyes were not fooled. The problem with her plan, however, was that Sasuke could also easily pick up on how fake she was being. She was good, but she wasn't good enough to fool any Shinobi with a dojutsu.

Sasuke held eye contact with her for a few moments before he smirked and looked back at Glynda. Fall hadn't stared at them this long any other day in any other class. He had an idea what was coming next. And he was quite pleased to secure his place in the fight to come instead of Naruto.

"That's the end of today's lecture, now who would like to come down here for a spar?" asked Glynda. Many hands were raised, but the only one that mattered was Fall's. Naruto stopped entertaining Yang's teasing as he noticed Fall as well. Sasuke watched Glynda's eyes pass over the students until they landed somewhere around Fall's side of the room. The moment it happened Sasuke knew he would have the fight he desired.

Sasuke watched Glynda make a show of checking her seating placement despite knowing exactly who Fall was before she looked back up at the woman.

"Cinder Fall, yes? Let me just find your opponent." Said Glynda. Naruto's arm shot up. Yang twitched back, her grip on his arm loosening. Weiss inhaled sharply as the other two members of RWBY and those of JNPR just stared at him wide eyed. Sasuke's smirk widened and instead of raising his own arm, he stood and spoke.

"I'll do it." He didn't give Glynda any time to agree, nor give Naruto any time to argue. He simply walked down the aisle of seats he was in, then down the stairs to the stage below. Fall was already waiting for him there, smiling.

"Well, aren't you rather eager? I haven't seen you fight yet. Could it be that you wanted a chance with me?" Fall asked. Sasuke was sure she worded it that way on purpose.

"Yes," he responded. Fall blinked. Her smile faltered almost imperceptibly. Sasuke continued. "You've been watching me for four days. It's about time we got acquainted." Sasuke watched the smallest twitch of her brow. Something deep in her eyes hardened.

"The match between Uchiha Sasuke and Cinder Fall will now begin. A winner will be decided when one of the combatant's aura is depleted or one of them forfeits. Miss Fall, are you ready?" asked Glynda.

"Yes." Cinder did not take her eyes off him.

"Mister Uchiha, are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Then let the match begin!"

~X~

Naruto clicked his tongue as he watched Fall make the first move, dashing at Sasuke. She was quick on her feet and her slashes were well aimed and calculated, each one meant to lead into the next in a perfect combo. Sasuke dodged everything.

"I really wish it was me down there," he grumbled, scowling down at hiss teammate. He hadn't expected him to take the initiative like that.

"I know she's hot, but I didn't expect you two to be so interested…" said Yang. Something in her voice caught his attention and he looked her way. She was frowning as she watched Fall continue to try and fail to land a blow on Sasuke. Fire leapt out of the woman's sword in a wave. It rushed towards Sasuke, crashing against the stage floor, and rising back up as it washed over him. Fall lunged forward, but not to attack.

Her instincts are good, Naruto thought. Standing directly behind where she once was, was Sasuke. There was no way she could have followed his movements. At least, Naruto didn't think so based on how slowly she'd reacted. She must have felt his presence behind her and acted accordingly. The two combatants lunged at once another again. Naruto could tell Sasuke was just playing around with the woman, but he wasn't entirely sure why. He could only assume he wanted to see if she was a decent fighter. Anything else was beyond him.

"It's not that," Naruto responded, "she's been watching us since we got here. Wanted to take a crack at her is all. Sasuke beat me to it."

"So you don't like her?" Yang pressed. Naruto rose a brow.

"No?" A smile spread across Yang's face and she latched onto Naruto's arm again. Naruto himself sighed internally, as his cheeks warmed. Okay… I know I was distracted a little by Sasuke's fight, but I could have seen that coming, he thought.

~X~

Cinder took a deep breath as she turned to Sasuke, wondering how he'd gotten behind her without notice again. She'd tried paying extra attention to his movements this time, but to no avail. This did not make any sense to her. Huntsman or not, he shouldn't be able to keep up with her like this. It had already been fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes of her opponent giving her the run around. She'd yet to get any worthwhile look at Sasuke's skills and yet she felt pressed. She was not giving her all, of course, but still. Even her current showing would normally be enough to challenge any active Huntsman. If she used her maiden power this fight would have ended long ago, but she shouldn't need that to best him. What is this man? She wondered.

Cinder brandished her sword, eyes narrowing. She lunged. Her sword swept from high to low. Sasuke moved to the side. She stepped in; her free hand curled into a fist. Sasuke smirked and caught her punch. Cinder winced and tried to jerk her fist free. She couldn't. her sword arm swung at his stomach from the right. Cinder caught air.

"You're mediocre at best. This was a waste of time. Should have let Naruto do this," scoffed Sasuke. Cinder grit her teeth. Her eyes flashed briefly with actual fire. She'd nearly let loose. How could anyone play with her so? Screaming, Cinder turned on Sasuke. Her body jolted back as she was forced to block a swing from his blade. He hadn't drawn it since the fight began; not until now.

Sasuke pushed her back, even as she tried making herself immovable. She glared up at him. He looked down at her, his expression flat. It was as if he was saying she was nothing to him with his eyes alone. Sasuke's arm moved back. He next swing came from the right. Cinder blocked. Sparks flew off their blades. Her sword ripped out of her fingers and skittered across the stage.

Cinder's hands stung. Her eyes flashed again. She lunged and Sasuke met her half way and traded blows. Cinder's were swept away by Sasuke's hands, while his own attacks hammered into the soft flesh of her stomach, legs, and face. Her aura would not hold out for much longer. They both knew it.

Cinder backed away from Sasuke, panting out ragged breaths as she glared him down. He strolled toward her, his visible eye a le steely orb. A bead of sweat trailed its way down Cinder's forehead and her skin grew hot as she realized something else.

Sasuke wasn't even sweating.

Cinder's eyes focused in on him. She couldn't see anything else. She couldn't hear the murmurs of the other students as fire engulfed her. All she saw was Sasuke stalking toward her, a smirk beginning to curl his lips. She lunged, her flames pushing her forward faster than ever before and exploding around her.

Cinder threw a flaming fist forward. Sasuke batted it away, as his right hand came up faster than her eyes could follow and wrapped around her throat. Sasuke squeezed. Cinder gasped for air and let her flames dissipate. Her stomach did flips as she made eye contact with her opponent. Cinder felt nauseous. She didn't understand what she saw in Sasuke's eyes. She'd never be able to describe it properly. But Cinder could say one thing. This could not be a human. This was death.

Sasuke leaned in, his lips near her ears. In any other situation, his hot breath ghost across her flesh might have been exciting, but right now it only made her hair stand on end.

"I'll be returning what you stole," Sasuke whispered. Before her mind could comprehend what he meant, she felt his fist burrow into her stomach. Her breath was stolen away, as her aura shattered, and blackness began to claw at the edges of her vision. Cinder tried to fight it.

She failed.

XXX

That's the chapter. I thank all of you for your patience. The next chapter will come as soon as I finish up some other works. Until then, please do leave a review. I'd love to hear from everyone.